Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"And they went to the king"
Text: Jeremiah 36:20
APPEARING BEFORE THE KING
These were difficult times for all in Judah. The Babylonian threat affected everyone in the kingdom, including the king and the princes. Nobody fully trusted anybody.
“And they went to the king, into the court;
but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe,
and told all the words in the hearing of the king.
So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll,
and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber.
And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king
and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king.”
Jeremiah 36:20-21
1. “And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber
of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king”
a) The princes entered into the presence of the king.
b) But they had hidden the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe.
c) They presented a verbal report to the King.
i) This report could be a summary of what Jeremiah had said.
ii) They hoped that this would be acceptable to the king.
iii) They hoped King Jehoiakim would not pursue the matter further.
iv) If so, the life of Jeremiah might be spared.
2. “So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama
the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king
and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king”
a) But the oral report was not what the king wanted to hear.
b) He wanted to actually see the scroll that the princes had recited from.
c) Jehudi was sent to bring the scroll.
i) Jehudi’s grandfather was called Cushi (or Cushite) {Jeremiah 36:14}.
ii) Kush was not one of the tribes of Israel.
iii) Kush (Cush) is often identified as Sudan (North Africa).
iv) The king trusted Jehudi (an African court official) more than the princes.
d) He went to the chambers of Elishama and brought the scroll to the king.
e) Jehudi then read to the king the scroll that Jeremiah had dictated to Baruch.